World’s military spending rises at highest rate in nearly four decades, report says

Seoul South Korea CNN The world is arming itself at the fastest rate since near the end of the Cold War according to a new assessment as major wars rage in Ukraine and Gaza and military tensions spike from Europe to Asia The year-on-year rise to trillion in global military spending in is the highest figure ever recorded by the authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI in its annual summary which warned there s no end in sight to the spiraling global arms race That is the highest rise since the year before the Berlin Wall fell Countless countries have also committed to raising military spending which will lead to further global increases in the coming years the document declared The United States remains by far the world s biggest military spender almost a trillion dollars in the document declared Big ticket items in the US budget included F- stealth fighters and their combat systems billion new ships for the US Navy billion modernizing the US nuclear arsenal billion and missile defense billion The US budget included billion in aid for Ukraine almost three-quarters of Kyiv s own defense budget of billion China followed the US in overall military spending with an estimated billion just under a third of the US total the account commented It did not break down Beijing s spending by weapons or command but noted China unveiled several improved capabilities in including new stealth combat aircraft uncrewed aerial vehicles UAVs and uncrewed underwater vehicles China also continued to rapidly expand its nuclear arsenal in the statement declared Together Washington and Beijing accounted for almost half of the world s military spending in the account stated But countries involved in or wary of regional conflicts exhibited the biggest increases in spending year over year Israel which launched an invasion of the Palestinian territory of Gaza in proved a whopping increase in military spending in Meanwhile Russia which invaded Ukraine in displayed an estimated increase of at least but the SIPRI noted that figure was likely higher as Moscow augments military coffers with money from regional and other sources The more than three-year-long conflict in Ukraine has seen NATO countries significantly boost their military budgets in response to Russia s belligerence and as US President Donald Trump presses Europe and the US-led alliance to be more responsible for their defense saying they ve been taking advantage of the United States for too long Germany with the world s fourth-largest defense budget upped its spending by Romania the Netherlands Sweden the Czech Republic Poland Denmark Norway Finland Turkey and Greece were the other NATO members among the top defense spenders worldwide who presented double-digit increases in The rapid spending increases among European NATO members were driven mainly by the ongoing Russian threat and concerns about realizable US disengagement within the alliance noted Jade Guiberteau Ricard researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme But analysts reported it may take more than money for US allies in Europe to become militarily self-sufficient It is worth saying that boosting spending alone will not necessarily translate into significantly greater military capability or independence from the USA Those are far more complex tasks SIRPI researcher Guiberteau Ricard noted in a press release In the Indo-Pacific the SIPRI commented China s increase in marked the th consecutive year-over-year rise in spending for the People s Liberation Army the largest unbroken streak recorded in the institute s database the review stated China s military build-up has also influenced the military policies of its neighbors prompting several of them to increase spending it mentioned Japan s military budget rose in Tokyo s largest increase since That brought military spending to of gross domestic product the biggest chunk of Japan s business activity devoted to the military since The Philippines embroiled with China in territorial disputes in the South China Sea increased its defense spending And though spending in South Korea went up only in Seoul has the highest military burden in East Asia at of GDP the institute reported Taiwan an island democracy of particular million people that the Chinese Communist Party alleges as its own and has vowed to seize by force if necessary increased its defense budget by only last year but Taipei s military spending is up since the review stated India meanwhile had the world s fifth-largest defense budget billion in New Delhi s increase over was only but the country s defense spending is up over the past decade indicative of a troubling trend researchers declared Major military spenders in the Asia Pacific region are investing increasing materials into advanced military capabilities Nan Tian director of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme commented With several unresolved disputes and mounting tensions these investments menace sending the region into a dangerous arms-race spiral Also in Asia Myanmar which has seen internal conflict since a military coup in increased spending by in At of its GDP Myanmar maintains the largest military burden in the Asia-Pacific the account announced Military expenditures in Africa were up overall in Algeria is the continent s biggest spender while ranking th worldwide In the Americas Mexico established a surge in military spending in reflecting the regime s increasingly militarized response to organized crime the overview declared